KANSAS CITY, Mo. –  Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball senior guard Tyler Schmidt made the first cut on the Bevo Francis Award Watch List, landing on the Top 50 Watch List as announced by Small College Basketball Thursday afternoon.

The announcement marks the second consecutive year that Schmidt has advanced to the Top 50 Watch List, earning the honor last year during the 2022-23 season. He is the third Tiger all-time to make the first cut on the watch list, joining Nic Reed who earned the honor in 2020 and Alex Gross in 2022. Both Reed and Gross were named finalists in their respective seasons.

Schmidt remains as the lone representative of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) for the Bevo Francis Award, with Saint Xavier's Cedric Johnson not making the first cut to the Top 50.

Schmidt has cemented himself as one of the NAIA's top players throughout his stellar senior season. The Valparaiso, Ind., native is averaging 23.4 points per contest which is the top mark in the CCAC and the seventh-best scoring average in the country. Schmidt has collected a pair of CCAC Player of the Week Awards while cross numerous career milestones, including becoming just the sixth player in ONU men's basketball history to net 2,000 career points.

The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. Considerations will be season statistics and individual achievements, awards, personal character and team achievements.  This is an incredibly prestigious award, as this award will only be given to one player within Small College Basketball per season.

The list will be narrowed down to the top 25 on Friday, March 15, while the finalists will be determined on Friday, April 5 and the winner will be announced on Monday, April 8.

Click HERE to learn more about the award and to find the full list.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu